Receptacle for cigarette lighter

ABSTRACT

A receptacle for a cigarette lighter comprising side and end walls attached to a back member which may be attached to or be part of a wall panel of a cigarette case. A flat permanent magnet is attached to said back member to detachably secure a cigarette lighter within the walls of the receptacle and an opening in at least one of the side walls permits access of a human finger to the side and innermost surface of the lighter to facilitate removing it from said receptacle when it is to be used.

[ 1 Oct. 9, 1973 RECEPTACLE FOR CIGARETTE LIGHTER [76] Inventor: James C. Shepherd, c/o Truck Terminal Motels of America, Rt. No. l, Myerstown, Pa. 17067 [22] Filed: Dec. 1,1971

[21] Appl. No.: 203,788

[52] U.S. Cl.... 206/41.4, 206/D1G. 24, 206/D1G. 33

[51] Int. Cl B65d 85/10 [58] Field 01 Search 206/38 R, 38 A, 38 B, 206/41.4, 47 R, 65 F, 73, DIG; 24, DIG. 33; 248/206 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,203,123 8/1965 Dominy 206/73 X 2,679,740 6/1954 Seletzky... 206/41.4 X 2,997,168 8/1961 Tall 206/73 X 3,232,397 2/1966 McCoy 206/73 X 3,661,253 5/1972 Cronkhite.... 206/65 F UX 1,846,275 2/1932 Palanjian 207/38 A UX 3,057,180 10/1962 Steppan 206/38 A UX 2,460,427 2/1949 Musselman et a1. 206/41.4 1,904,193 4/1933 Berg 206/38 B FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 466,061 1/1969 Switzerland 248/206 A 680,713 2/1964 Canada 206/38 A Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson, Jr. Assistant ExaminerSteven E. Lipman Att0rneyC. Hercus Just [5 7] ABSTRACT A receptacle for a cigarette lighter comprising side and end walls attached to a back member which may be attached to or be part of a wall panel of a cigarette case. A flat permanent magnet is attached to said back member to detachably secure a cigarette lighter within the walls of the receptacle and an opening in at least one of the side walls permits access of a human finger to the side and innermost surface of the lighter to facilitate removing it from said receptacle when it is to be used.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures RECEPTACLE FOR CIGARETTE LIGHTER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many types of constructions have been devised heretofore, particularly for purposes of combining a cigarette lighter with a cigarette case, whereby the lighter is always convenient for use in conjunction with the cigarettes. One example of such combination is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,846,275, issued Feb. 23, 1932, in the name of Palanjian. In said structure, a cigarette case is provided with a clip on one sidewall for purposes of securing a cigarette lighter detachably between the opposite spring members of the clip.

A number of prior patents show various receptacles in which there is a pocket suitable to receive a pack of cigarettes and an additional, adjacent pocket in which a cigarette lighter may be either removably or permanently received. One example of structure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,460,427, issued Feb. 1, 1949, To H. E. Musselman, et al.

In addition to combining a cigarette lighter with a cigarette case, it also has been popular to provide a pocket on a cigarette case in which a clip of matches may be retained until ready for use. An example of this type of construction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,536,722, issued Jan. 2, 1951, to E. S. Caldwell.

Still another arrangement by which a cigarette case and lighter are combined is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,057,180, issued Oct. 9, 1962, to E. T. Steppan. In this construction, tbe cigarette lighter is retained in a well which has clips or spring blades mounted on opposite sides thereof adapted to receive one edge of a cigarette pack therebetween.

In most instances in the devices provided heretobefore for securing a cigarette lighter to a cigarette pack, the cigarette lighter in particular has been custommade to fit a particular receptacle or cavity formed within or connected to the cigarette case. In general, it does not appear tbat any devices have been made heretofore which are either attached to or are adapted to be affixed to a side panel, for example, of a cigarette case for purposes of retaining average, popular sizes of cigarette lighters of many different makes. It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a receptacle which may either be formed separately and attached to any desired type of cigarette case, by cement or otherwise, or the receptacle may be integrally formed with a cigarette case, such as by molding both the receptacle and the cigarette case from synthetic resin, for example. Details of the objectives and construction comprising the invention are set forth as follows.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the principal objective of the present invention to provide a receptacle comprising a back member to which end walls and side walls are connected to define a generally rectangular compartment, the outer face of which is open to receive a cigarette lighter and a fiat permanent magnet is secured to the back member, substantially centrally thereof, for detachable connection of the cigarette lighter within the receptacle, at least one side wall of the receptacle having an opening extending from the outer edge inwardly to the full depth of the wall for purposes of facilitating the engagement of the cigarette lighter by a human finger to facilitate removing the lighter from the receptacle.

Another object of the invention is to provide the inner surfaces of at least the side walls with a taper extending inward and downward toward the back member, whereby when a lighter is disposed within the receptacle for attachment to the magnet, the tapered inner surfaces of the side walls will center the lighter within the receptacle.

It is a further object of the invention to provide opening of the foregoing type in both side walls of the receptacle, whereby, for example, a thumb and forefinger may be used to simultaneously engage opposite sides of the cigarette lighter toremove the same from the receptacle.

It is still another object of the invention to extend the openings in the side walls of the receptacle into at least part of the back member of the receptacle so as to further facilitate the engagement of the innermost surface of the cigarette lighter such as by passing a fingernail beneath the under surface of the lighter whereby, especially because of the tapered inner surfaces of the side walls, the lighter may be removed with a slightly rolling action.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a receptacle in which said back member comprises a side panel of a cigarette case, thereby providing a combined lighter receptacle and cigarette case which preferably are of unitary construction.

Details of the foregoing objects and of the invention, as well as other objects thereof, are set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing comprising apart thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a receptacle embodying the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the receptacle illustrated in FIG. 1 attached to one side wall of a cigarette case.

FIG. 3 is a somewhat exploded perspective view showing the combination cigarette case and receptacle shown in FIG. 2 with the cigarette lighter removed from the receptacle and in line therewith for disposal therein.

' FIG. 4 is a side view of one wall of a cigarette lighter to which an iron-containing thin panel has been affixed for purposes of attaching the lighter to the magnet within the receptacle shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 under circumstances where the cigarette lighter has a nonferrous case.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the receptacle 10 is shown as being in the form of an open compartment or box and comprising a back member 12. Connected to the opposite ends of the back member 12 are a pair of similar end walls 14. Also connected to the opposite sides of the back member 14 are a pair of side walls 16. The side walls 16 each have an opening 18 therein which extends from the outer edges of the side walls to the opposite edges thereof and, in addition, said openings preferably extend into opposite sides of the back member 12, as shown in FIG. 1, for purposes to be described.

Particularly as shown in FIG. 1, it will be seen that the inner surfaces 20 of the side walls 16 slope inwardly toward each other, whereby the transverse dimension between said surfaces adjacent the back member 12 is less than the distance between the outermost edges of the inner surfaces 20 of the sidewalls. As shown in FIG.

such magnets being a strip of synthetic resin or rubber-.

like material in which magnetic type iron oxide is distributed throughout the material and is capable of being magnetized to form a permanent magnet. Material of this type is highly suited for forming the magnet intended to be used in the present invention due to the fact that the receptacle is shaped and intended to receive a cigarette lighter 24 of popular, substantially standard dimensions. In FIG. 2 the lighter 24 is shown positioned within a receptacle 10 which has been affixed to one panel 26 of a cigarette case 28, for example. In the case which is illustrated, the same also has a hinged cover 30.

Due to the fact that the cigarette lighter 24 is substantially of standard size, the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the side wall 16 of receptacle 10, especially adjacent the inner edges of said side walls, is substantially equal to the width of the cigarette lighter 24. Accordingly, when the cigarette lighter 24 is engaged magnetically against the permanent magnet 22, the sides of the cigarette lighter will be substantially in contact with the sloping inner surfaces 20 of the side walls 16 and thereby will prevent any accidental or undesired rattling movement of the cigarette lighter within the receptacle 10, thus also contributing to the firm but detachable connection of the cigarette lighter to the magnet 22 within the receptacle 10.

The sloping inner surfaces 20 of the side walls 16, especially in conjunction with the side openings 18, cooperate in effecting a removal of the lighter 24 from the receptacle 10 which may be accomplished by inserting a thumbnail, for example, under one edge of the lighter in one of the openings 18, while the forefinger is placed upon the outer edge of the opposite side of the lighter and a somewhat rolling action may be effected to faciliate disengagement of the lighter from the magnet 22 and correspondingly, permit the removal of the lighter from the receptacle 10 for use. Under the circumstances described above, it is presumed for example that the case of the cigarette lighter 24 is of steel or similar construction so that at least a certain amount of iron is present therein for attraction magnetically to the magnet 22.

In the event that the case of the cigarette lighter 24 is not of a ferrous nature, for example, the magnet 22 nevertheless may be made effective with respect to a non-ferrous cigarette lighter by applying, for example, a thin sheet of steel 32 or at least some similar appropriate ferrous alloy from which the sheet is made. Said sheet may readily be affixed to one side of the cigarette lighter 24 by means of pressure-sensitive cement or any other appropriate cement. Such a sheet of steel, with the cement means appropriately protected by a suitable cover, may be provided with each of the receptacles 10 at the time they are sold, for attachment to non-ferrous lighters.

As indicated hereinabove, the receptacle 10 may be affixed to one side of a cigarette case 28, as shown in FIG. 2. However, as an alternate construction, attention is directed to FIG. 3 wherein it is to be seen that the case 28, for example, may be molded from synthetic resin. Under such circumstances, one panel of the cigarette case 28 may serve as the back member for the receptacle 10. When this arrangement is used, the end walls 14 and side walls 16 for the receptacle may be molded integrally with the cigarette case 28 and the openings 18 also will be formed at the same timewithin the side walls 16. While it has been indicated that the construction shown in FIG. 3 may be molded from synthetic resin, it is to be understood that the combined receptacle l0 and cigarette case 28 may be formed from any other suitable material, such as metal alloys of appropriate composition.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides a receptacle 10 which may be affixed to an appropriate supporting item or surface for purposes of having a cigarette lighter detachably connected thereto and be in a position for ready removal therefrom when use of the lighter is desired. Such receptacle also very appropriately may be affixed to one panel of a cigarette case and, if desired, another embodiment of such combination may comprise the construction shown in FIG. 3 in which the end and side walls of the receptacle are molded integrally with one panel of the cigarette case 28, under which circumstances, one panel of the cigarette case serves as a back member upon which the magnet 22 is mounted. The receptacle is capable of holding a cigarette lighter in position for instant use by quickly removing the lighter from the receptacle and, when the lighter is stored in the receptacle, it is always maintained adjacent to the cigarette case, for example, rather than having to funble around in ones pocket or handbag to find a lighter when it is desired to light a cigarette, for example.

The combination cigarette case and receptacle for the cigarette lighter may be manufactured inexpensively in attractive colors, especially when formed from synthetic resin. When formed from metal, the combination may be esthetically finished in suitable burnished finishes or plated, if desired. Appropriate decorative covering materials likewise may be applied to the exposed walls of the cigarette case, and also to the end and side walls of the receptacle 10.

While the invention has been described and illustrated in its preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the precise details herein illustrated and described since the same may be carried out in other ways falling within the scope of the invention as illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A receptacle comprising a cigarette case formed from connected panels and having an opening in one end closed by a removable closure, in combination with means on said cigarette case to hold a cigarette lighter of generally rectangular shape, said holding means comprising side and end walls attached to one panel of said cigarette case and projecting therefrom a distance substantially equal to the thickness of a cigarette lighter and operable to prevent lateral movement of a cigarette lighter relative to said cigarette case when positioned between said walls, at least one of said sidewalls having an opening extending inwardly from the outer edge substantially to the innermost edge thereof and having a width adequate to accomodate a human finger, and a flat permanent magnet interconnected permanently to said panel of said cigarette case between said side and end walls and adapted to magnetically secure a cigarette lighter detachably against said magnet and confined within the boundaries of said side and end walls, the distance between said opposite end walls and sidewalls respectively being substantially equal to the length and width of a cigarette lighter to be held therebetween.

2. The receptacle according to claim 1 in which both sides of said receptacle are provided with said openings substantially midway thereof.

3. The receptacle and cigarette case according to claim 1 in which the side and end walls of said holding means and said cigarette case are molded integrally from homogeneous material.

4. The receptacle and cigarette case accoring to claim 3 in which said homogeneous material is synthetic resin and said magnet is flat and cemented to said one panel of said cigarette case between said sidewalls of said holding means.

5. The receptacle according to claim 1 in which the inner surfaces of the sidewalls of said holding means taper slightly inwardly toward said back panel and the opposite sidewall and thereby serve to center a cigarette lighter relative to the holding means and prevent any appreciable sidewise movement of the lighter when held in the receptacle by said magnet.

6. The receptacle according to claim 1 in which said side and end walls are connected to a back panel to form a receptacle for said cigarette lighter, said back panel being permanently connected to said panel of said cigarette case and said opening in said sidewall also extending a limited distance into said back panel to facilitate engaging the edge of the innermost surface of the cigarette lighter to remove it from said receptacle.

7. The receptacle according to claim 6 in which the outer surface of said back panel is substantially flat and complementary to said panel of a cigarette case. 

1. A receptacle comprising a cigarette case formed from connected panels and having an opening in one end closed by a removable closure, in combination with means on said cigarette case to hold a cigarette lighter of generally rectangular shape, said holding means comprising side and end walls attached to one panel of said cigarette case and projecting therefrom a distance substantially equal to the thickness of a cigarette lighter and operable to prevent lateral movement of a cigarette lighter relative to said cigarette case when positioned between said walls, at least one of said sidewalls having an opening extending inwardly from the outer edge substantially to the innermost edge thereof and having a width adequate to accomodate a human finger, and a flat permanent magnet interconnected permanently to said panel of said cigarette case between said side and end walls and adapted to magnetically secure a cigarette lighter detachably against said magnet and confined within the boundaries of said side and end walls, the distance between said opposite end walls and sidewalls respectively being substantially equal to the length and width of a cigarette lighter to be held therebetween.
 2. The receptacle according to claim 1 in which both sides of said receptacle are provided with said openings substantially midway thereof.
 3. The receptacle and cigarette case according to claim 1 in which the side and end walls of said holding means and said cigarette case are molded integrally from homogeneous material.
 4. The receptacle and cigarette case according to claim 3 in which said homogeneous material is synthetic resin and said magnet is flat and cemented to said one panel of said cigaRette case between said sidewalls of said holding means.
 5. The receptacle according to claim 1 in which the inner surfaces of the sidewalls of said holding means taper slightly inwardly toward said back panel and the opposite sidewall and thereby serve to center a cigarette lighter relative to the holding means and prevent any appreciable sidewise movement of the lighter when held in the receptacle by said magnet.
 6. The receptacle according to claim 1 in which said side and end walls are connected to a back panel to form a receptacle for said cigarette lighter, said back panel being permanently connected to said panel of said cigarette case and said opening in said sidewall also extending a limited distance into said back panel to facilitate engaging the edge of the innermost surface of the cigarette lighter to remove it from said receptacle.
 7. The receptacle according to claim 6 in which the outer surface of said back panel is substantially flat and complementary to said panel of a cigarette case. 